Led by Artistic Director & Founder, Lyn Williams AM, the ensembles of Gondwana Choirs have inspired audiences across Australia and around the world.
For over 35 years, the Sydney Children’s Choir has pushed the boundaries of artistic possibility. Its commitment to new music, often daring and challenging, is at the heart of the ensemble. Recent commissions include Only I by Nico Muhly and I am Martuwarra by Paul Stanhope, as well as a suite of pieces by Sam Weiss. In 2022, the choir premiered a new theatrical work, Hypnopompia, a collaboration with director Alexander Berlage and in 2024 performed with The Cat Empire and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Gondwana National Choirs bring together young singers from across the country and represent Australia on the world stage. In 2019, Gondwana Voices travelled to Berlin to perform Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. This choir was invited to represent Australia at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music. In 2024 Gondwana Voices toured to the UK, France, and Spain in a highly successful season, firstly joining Marliya for their Spinifex Gum show in London, before travelling to Paris and on to Spain, where a highlight of this tour was the opportunity to sing at Montserrat.
Based in Cairns, the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir has a commitment to commissioning new choral music incorporating First Nations language and story in collaboration with cultural custodians. Recently, films of the choir singing these pieces on Country have shared this work to a wider audience. In July 2022, they gave the premiere performance of Of the Earth by William Barton with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Simone Young for the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and in 2025 presented performances in Hobart as part of Festival of Voices.
From the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, Marliya was first formed to appear in Felix Riebl’s Spinifex Gum. Marliya has since performed at the Adelaide, Perth and Sydney Festivals, WOMAdelaide, at Dreamtime at the G, Byron Bay BluesFest, Desert Song Festival, and the Garma Festival among many others. A symphonic version of Spinifex Gum premiered with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2022, with subsequent performances with both the Adelaide and Sydney symphony orchestras. In 2024, Marliya presented the first international performance of Spinifex Gum at London’s Barbican Hall to a standing ovation. Most recently they were the featured guest artists at the 2025 National Reconciliation Week Breakfast.
